


Understand?

by owenharpersgirl



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rickyl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 16:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3495071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owenharpersgirl/pseuds/owenharpersgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How do you convince someone they deserve to be safe? To be happy? That's exactly the dilemma Rick faces with Daryl as the group tries to adjust to Alexandria. Somehow he must make Daryl understand that he is a part of their family and that he deserves to be there just as much as the rest of them. One-Shot. Rickyl</p>
            </blockquote>





	Understand?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead
> 
> Note: First time attempting Rickyl

The group had finally decided to split into the two houses. Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Abraham, Sasha, Rosita, and Eugene were going to share on house while Rick, Carl, Judith, Daryl, Carol, and Michonne were in the other. Gabriel had made some friends right away with some men from the church and had been offered a place to stay there and he had brought Noah along with him.

Now they just had one problem to sort out: beds. The house Rick and the others were in had a bed for Carl and someone had brought over a playpen for Judith. However, the other two beds were large and could each fit two people. This wasn't necessarily a problem, after spending so much time together in such close quarters, none of them really cared where they slept, especially if they were actually on beds. However, the house Glenn and the others were had one large bed and five small ones. So they had decided to move two of the smaller beds and switch it for one of the larger ones in Rick's house. After years of fighting walkers, moving furniture was a welcome problem.

"My, doesn't this look busy," Deanna said, coming to stand next to Carol who was holding Judith as the others moved things around.

"Yeah, I hope it's okay that we're moving things," Carol said, "It just made more sense with two couples in that house and one in this house."

"Of course, we want you to be comfortable," Deanna said, "Only one couple... So you and Daryl or Rick and Michonne?"

"Oh... um, neither," Carol said, "No, me and Daryl are just friends. Same with Rick and Michonne. We've all been through a lot and me and Daryl shared some stuff that the others don't, as did Rick and Michonne."

"I see," Deanna nodded in understanding, "You two seemed really close so I just assumed, my apologizes."

"Don't worry about," Carol smiled at her, "You're not the first one who's thought that."

"So who-?" Deanna looked over and watched as the four men put the mattress down for a moment. Well, Daryl's corner slipped from his hands and Rick, Carl, and Glenn put theirs down, laughing. Rick reached over and rested his hand on Daryl's shoulder, smiling warmly at the other man as Daryl blushed deeply.

"Oh," Deanna said, "I hadn't realized."

"It's not a problem right?" Carol said quickly, "I mean, Aaron and Eric-"

"Not a problem at all," Deanna smiled, "I'm just surprised, that's all. And glad."

"Glad?" Carol said in confusion.

"I finally know something about Mr. Dixon." She walked away smiling, leaving the group to finish sorting things out.

Daryl glanced over and saw her leaving and the smile fell from his face.

RICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYLRICKYL

It was late. Daryl was sitting alone on the porch of the house. Alexandria was silent, everyone having long since gone to bed. At least, Daryl thought everyone had gone to bed.

"Hey."

Daryl looked up and saw Rick standing in the doorway.

"Hey," Daryl said.

"Keepin' watch?" Rick joked, smiling slightly, but Daryl just shrugged. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Deanna was here earlier," Daryl said quietly.

"I know," Rick said, "Apparently she thought me and Michonne were together. And you and Carol." Daryl snorted.

"Yeah, that's what I did when Carol told me," Rick smiled, "Apparently Deanna was surprised about us too, but she said there's no issue."

Daryl looked down at his hands. "So she does know?"

"What? About us?" Rick said, "Yeah, she does."

Daryl nodded, still not looking at Rick.

"Daryl? What's going on?" Rick asked, but Daryl didn't answer. "Come on Daryl, I can't help if ya don't tell me what's wrong."

"I don't belong here," Daryl said quietly.

"What? Course ya do," Rick said, but Daryl shook his head vehemently.

"I don't man, I ain't like these people," Daryl said. "They look at me like... and now Deanna knows about you an' me. There's another label they can stick. I just... I ain't gonna fit here Rick. I don' know if I can."

"You wanna leave?" Rick asked and Daryl looked at him in shock.

"An' go where?" Daryl said.

"I dunno, but if you really want to leave then we'll figure it out," Rick said.

"Can't leave," Daryl shook his head, "Carl an' Jude an' the rest of ya... ya need this. Ya deserve this."

"So do you," Rick said quietly and Daryl scoffed. "You do Daryl, how can I make you see that?" Daryl shrugged, once again refusing to look at Rick.

Rick sighed and suddenly got an idea. "Come on," he said, getting to his feet.

Daryl looked up at him questioningly and Rick smiled, pulling the archer to his feet. He pulled Daryl into the house and the pair quietly made their way up the stairs. They walked past the room Carol and Michonne shared and stopped in front of another door.

"The hell're ya doin'?" Daryl whispered, but Rick just held a finger to his lips and slowly opened the door. Carl was fast asleep, lying flat on his stomach with one hand under his pillow.

"If you wanted to leave tomorrow he would wait at the gates for you," Rick whispered and Daryl hung his head. Rick closed the door gently and took Daryl's hand again, leading him into the room they would be sharing. Judith's playpen was setup in the corner of the room and the baby girl was sleeping soundly.

"What? You gonna tell me she'd crawl her way ta the gate if I wanted ta leave?" Daryl asked sarcastically.

"No," Rick said, "One of us would have to carry her. But I am gonna tell you that if you weren't here she'd never stop crying. You're her favourite person in the world."

"Pretty certain that's you or Carl," Daryl said.

"Nope," Rick shook his head, "It's definitely you. Me an' Carl are near the top, at least I hope so. But you? Daryl without you she wouldn't even be here right now. When she's tired or hungry or sick, it's you she wants to be held by. Sure, me an' Carl can calm her down and get her off to sleep. But not like you. She doesn't care what ya are or who ya are. She loves you. I love you."

Daryl looked at Rick through his bangs. "Ya mean that?"

"I do," Rick nodded. "Everyone in our group is family. But Carl, Judith, and you are my _family_. Understand?"

Daryl bit his lip and nodded, though he still looked unsure.

"Daryl," Rick said grimly, resting his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "You belong here. _With us_. Whether we're here in Alexandria or out there or somewhere else. You belong with us."

Daryl nodded again and this time Rick believed that Daryl actually understood. The two men slowly began to get ready for bed.

"You sure you want to sleep in here and not out on the porch?" Rick joked and Daryl cracked a smile.

"Keep that up an' I might," he said. They flopped down on the bed and Rick rolled over to face Daryl.

"You belong here with us," he said again, "Is that understood Mr. Dixon?"

Daryl grunted. "Understood," he nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't know why beds was the thing I decided to include in this. The whole idea of Deanna finding out about Rick and Daryl was something I wanted to include and for some reason the first thing that came into my head was have them move things from one house to the other. Also, Deanna is obviously not homophobic, but I figure Daryl's pretty unsure of the place already and any little thing that might separate him from the others is something he'll think they'll toss him out for.
> 
> This was my first attempt at writing Rickyl so I hope it was alright! I never actually shipped it until I read a couple fanfictions on the pairing and now hear I am. Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!


End file.
